The Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajam has decided to open an additional number of 45 pilgrim assistance centres across the South Indian states during the 2013-2014 pilgrimage season. With this, the total number of the pilgrim assistance centres would touch 100, said Samajam national general secretary Kummanam Rajasekharan. Of the 45 centres, 25 will be within the state and others will be at important cities in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Pondichery, Kummanam said. He said that the centres would have facilities like free food, medicated drinking water, resting place, medical assistance and information centre.

The Samajam’s theme for the coming season would be an exploitation-free and trouble- free pilgrimage, he said.

The Samajam would organise awareness camps for the pilgrims with the participation of ‘guruswamis’ in the all the southern states, he said.

It will also undertake emergency medical assistance and mobile medical facilities for the pilgrims during the next season. At the important pilgrim transit centres of the Samajam, ambulance facilities will be offered, Kummanam said.

Mobile medical facilities will be available for the pilgrims on all the important Sabarimala routes like Mannarakulanji-Chalakayalm and Erumely-Elavunkal roads, he said.

Kummanam said that the Samajam would launch a massive scheme of organic vegetable cultivation across the state involving 75 samajam units.

As part of the project, the samajam units will provide vegetable seeds and organic fertilisers to the families, Kummanam said. The vegetable produced at the samajam unit-level will be collected for offering free food for the pilgrims during the two-month long Mandalam-Makaravilakku season, he said.